The first time I took my son camping we built a fire together. And we nearly burned off our eyebrows. It was an impressive blaze and we were proud of ourselves. As we sat looking at our fiery effort, my son noticed the flames were beginning to wane and asked to add more wood. I agreed but without knowing he meant ALL of our wood. After piling on what seemed like a small forest, the fire did not grow but began to smother, turn to smoke and grow colder.
My second thought was to grab a long stick, shove the big wood pieces aside and start working the glowing embers under our wreckage. In no time tiny flames started to sprout from these fiery seeds and catch the bigger slabs. The fire flickered, sputtered, launched itself higher and finally renewed itself completely. My son was overjoyed and I was inspired. The embers held the key to a larger, fuller flame.
We as performing artists and singers house these same embers within. They may be the seeds of change, the low notes we neglect to practice, the coach or contact we forgot to thank for some amazing insight. They may be the overlooked double consonant, the call home from the road, the shoes we forgot to shine before our audition.
Too often we aspire to greatness, and we should! Our flames have every right to lick the nearest cloud, roar and consume, make a brilliant light and add warmth to our world. But we must tend to our embers and remind ourselves the origin of our aspirations, and the very word “aspire” itself, comes from the breath. By adding a bit of breathing room, extra time and concentration to areas we often overlook our flames, our careers, and our personal lives will undoubtedly show signs of growth.
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We may decide that tending to the little things, the smallest embers, may just be too much in any given day. But any amount of mindfulness directed toward undoing a bad habit, smiling at an unsuspecting stranger, being grateful to a colleague you dislike, practicing scales in your first passaggio that always seems to make you crazy or building up the confidence of a distraught friend may very well ignite your next conflagration. Each ember is a new fire waiting to happen.
If you have three minutes a day (and we all do), make a list of your embers. These are the little things that may escape your every day purview but need attention before adding the bigger items on top. They could be troubling spots in your vocal range that get neglected for the high notes. They could be the thank yous you have yet to write and mail before asking for the next gig. They could be a list of to dos that don’t get done before your auditions. Write a list and in the remaining minutes you have to spare, conquer one. Poke it with a long stick and stoke it a little just to see what future fire it may be holding inside it.
We can all build the fires we desire. But before we build we need to tend to our embers. Enjoy the journey!
